“I went full dad mode”: Dave Bautista, Ken Jeong and Chloe Coleman on My Spy the Eternal City

Promising “bigger, better and funnier”, Dave Bautista, Chloe Coleman and Ken Jeong expressed their excitement at being reunited on the set of My Spy the Eternal City.

The second movie sees the addition of some new cast members, including Anna Faris, Craig Robinson and Flula Borg. “They were brilliant, amazing, funny, easy to work with, super talented, and they all brought something extra to the table,” said Bautista. The wrestler-turned-actor, already friendly with Faris due to his time working with her now ex-husband, Chris Pratt, on the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, explained how the new editions “fit right in”.

Filming in Italy and Cape Town, the cast also reminisced on their time on location: “Venice was beautiful,” said Bautista, with Coleman and Jeong also taking advantage of safari in South Africa. Robinson and Jeong continued their tradition of putting on live music shows in local bars and clubs when travelling. Jeong explained, “Craig is like the pied piper of music globally. He will call me at like 11pm, asking if I want to join him on a pop-up show.” The pair go way back, 25 years or so, yet their performance in Cape Town whilst filming remains Jeong’s favourite. “Craig had a pop-up show, 100 people, and I was a surprise guest (…) and Craig played K-Ci & Jo Jo’s All My Life – this is our favourite live moment I think we’ve ever had in our careers.”

With plenty of family-friendly action to keep audiences entertained, filming wasn’t all sunshine and singing, as the cast also had to put in the work behind the scenes. “Watching Dave working with the stunt coordinators was amazing, especially as a fan of his from the WWE days,” said Jeong. Suave villain Borg also got a shout-out for his impressive stuntman work, even surprising former wrestler and mixed martial artist Bautista. 

Having grown with her character, Coleman explained that after five years, Sophie is maturing and going through those teen years dreaded by all parents. This is encapsulated when Kristen Schaal’s character, Bobbi, attempts to teach Sophie how to kiss. “I was not acting at all,” said Coleman, “she was going on and on about the most disgusting stuff, I don’t think I needed to hear any of it, you definitely captured my natural reaction.” Though director Pete Segal also noted that at first, Coleman wasn’t too convinced by his script. “Initially, Sophie was a little more boy crazy than she is in the movie,” Coleman explains, as she describes a scene in Segal’s original proposal in which Sophie reverts to a mannequin for kissing techniques. Coleman found the perfect level of Sophie being both reserved and curious – even Segal admitted a dummy-kissing scene was a “horrible idea”.

When asked if anything was cheekily stolen from set, Bautista confessed, “I definitely have a shirt… and pants… and maybe some shoes,” later chiming in, “I also have a jacket.” “He has a written list right there,” joked Jeong. The cast clearly have fun when working together and their light-hearted and familiar tone, which also comes across on screen, makes for easy watching.

Olivia Gardener

My Spy the Eternal City is released on Prime Video on 18^th July 2024.

Watch the trailer for My Spy the Eternal City here: